Final Wish
by Sasaui102
Summary: Danny's ancestors wanted to escape, but they created his curse. Damiken wanted to make a name, but he paid a terrible price. Both want to fulfill one wish, but will demons from ones past stop them? Final Wish remake!
1. The Dream

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto! As awesome as that would be, it also would not be that good. If you think I'm that skilled, then I thank you.**

Note - the summary was on the spot, so please forgive me if it stinks. The last part may change if I think of something better.

Yes, that's right. You just saw Final Wish again. Of course, I already told a couple, so I guess it's not too surprising, huh? But it is supposed to be a surprise for UzamakiMasumi ^_^. That is why she wasn't able to beta-read this, so if there's mistakes... I know, I stink at grammar. No escaping it *sighs*.

This is a new version of my Final Wish story and a response to my challenge, Nemuri Promise. Don't read it if you don't want some spoilers about the promise. Anyway, after a certain truth ruined the original Final Wish, I came up with this one. Originally, I wasn't going to do it. It was kinda on a whim that I decided to go through with it. Because of that, some parts *coughdreamcough* were made up on the spot. If those scenes aren't as good, please forgive me. Also, the beginning is a normal scene. Although Silverwolf approves of it, I will never be comfortable with normal stuff, so if it's not the best, sorry.

Another fear I have is too many characters, but each played their own part in this chapter and I couldn't take them out, so...

Anyway, without further ado, here is the the story of Danny Fulkner - Final Wish.

* * *

It was a record. On the very first day of school, Danny found himself on the ground, panting from the punch to his stomach. Blood dripped from his nose and caked his mouth. He was sure his ribs were bruised from constant kicking. Overall, it was a pretty efficient beating.

"Come on – get up, loser!" the teen in front of him, Billy, spat.

Although it proved difficult, Danny did just that. A hand fell on his shoulder, but he shrugged it off. "I'm okay, Peter," he assured his friend. "This is nothing."

Billy scoffed, swinging again. If Danny blocked, he knew, Billy would just grow more enraged, so he simply took the hit. Once again he was sent to the ground. He braced, expecting the kick that came a moment later. It hit an already sore spot. In order to muffle his scream, Danny bit onto his own arm.

"Oh, that's not fun," Billy sneered. "I'm the only one allowed to hurt you." Before he could do anything, the bell gave a shrill cry. He glared at nothing in particular. "Looks like I lost track of time, so you lucked out today, loser."

Before anyone could enter the bathroom they were in, Billy left the two boys. Once Danny was sure that there was no more threat, he stumbled to his feet. Peter put an arm under his, helping him catch his balance. "Thanks."

Peter glared at him. Billy hadn't gone too far against him before Danny entered the bathroom, so the only damage done was a split lip. "I've told you to stop getting between us," he scolded. "You don't have to get beat up because of me. You don't even try to fight back."

"That's because if I do, he'll only be angrier and go after you," he pointed out, wetting a paper towel to wipe off the blood. It wouldn't be long until someone walked in. It was the end of the day, so it was likely the kids who had to ride the bus for up to an hour would want to relieve themselves first. "Plus, I can take it. He's hit harder before." After doing a quick inspection and finding that he didn't look too bad except for the beginnings of a black eye, he turned to his friend. "Think I could stay at your house for the weekend? If my mom sees this, she'll worry."

Peter shrugged. "Shouldn't be a problem. My parents think you're their second son anyway. Plus, they won't be home until tomorrow. They went to some wedding in Kentucky." Accepting a wet paper towel Danny handed him, he continued, "I don't get why you don't let your mom see. After all, it would be better if that guy was caught."

"Because last time we did that, his friends took vengeance on you." Danny pulled out his cell phone as he spoke, dialing the house number with a swiftness born from perfect memorization.

After a few rings, someone said, "Hello, Danny."

He unconsciously smiled upon hearing his mother's voice. It was always soothing after dealing with Billy and seemed to get rid of the stress of protecting Peter. But it also brought a gnawing guilt at lying to her when he knew she would do anything to keep him safe. He was sure she was where he got his protectiveness from. "Hey, Mom."

"What do you need, honey?" she asked.

"Well," he said, gently touching his sore eye, "I was wondering if I could spend the weekend at Peter's house."

There was a small pause as she considered it. Their houses were only a block away from each other. She knew Peter's parents and was good friends with them, so it was rare she worried about him being allowed. Because of this, she, unlike most, skipped over that question. "Do you have any homework?"

"Nope. I got everything done in class."

Her answer came after a small hesitation. "If that's so, I guess you can go."

Now Danny was fully aware of his grin. "Thanks, Mom. I love you. Bye."

"I love you, too, sweetie." The click on her side signified that she had ended the call.

He pocketed his cell phone and glanced at Peter. "Looks like I'll be staying at your house. You still have some of my spare clothes there, right?" The last he could remember, he had left at least a few things at his friend's house. Would he have taken them home last time, though?

Danny's worries were extinguished when Peter nodded. "I'm pretty sure," he replied. "I don't think I own a grey American Eagle hoodie."

Rolling his eyes, Danny headed for the door. As the two left, someone finally walked into the bathroom. Billy had been right about them lucking out. Nobody had even seen the blood. Even if they had, though, it wouldn't do anything. Many were aware of Billy's bullying, but they were too afraid to do anything about it.

As they headed to the bus, Peter began telling him about the guild he had recently joined on World of Warcraft. Apparently they were a lot of anime fans and had named the guild Fairy Tail. With this introduction, Danny pulled the discussion to Fairy Tail. He enjoyed hearing about games, but he had more knowledge on the manga the guild was named after than the World of Warcraft.

Their conversation continued through most of the bus ride. It was finally interrupted, however, when a paper ball flew into Peter's lap. When he noticed there was writing, he smoothed it out. Peter frowned when he saw _NERD_ scrawled on it.

Danny sighed. It wasn't uncommon for Peter to be teased in most places with other high school kids. He was already small for his age, and he had skipped two grades. People targeted him both for his young appearance and for being a "know-it-all". Of course, Peter didn't help himself when he'd accidentally slip and prove he was pretty close to knowing everything. Even amongst the tenth graders he was at the top of the class.

"Don't pay attention to them, Peter. They just want to make themselves feel big and strong," Danny counseled, seeing his friend's crestfallen face. Even if he had faced them for years, he still was hurt by the words thrown his way.

Peter shrugged as if it didn't matter, but it was quite obvious that was not in fact the truth. Danny couldn't do anything more, though, and instead used a different tactic that usually worked – changing the subject. "So, who do you think would win? Erza or Laxus?"

With something in his mind he had to think about, especially something that would in a way contain statistics, his earlier gloom nearly vanished. Danny could still sense it, but right then it was the best he could do. Until they reached their stop, he listened to Peter debate with himself who would win between the two, occasionally giving his own input. In the end Peter was still stumped and scowling at his own indecisiveness.

When they walked into Peter's house, he murmured something about calling his parents so he was positive Danny could stay before walking off. Since he was almost as comfortable in his friend's house as his own, Danny made himself at home, taking a seat and turning on Netflix.

"Just like usual," Peter said in response to Danny's inquiring gaze. He took his own place on the couch. "So, you want to watch some anime?"

Danny shrugged. Although he enjoyed anime, he wasn't nearly as obsessed with it as Peter. Sometimes he found himself tired of the varying animes, rushing through them just to find out more was waiting for him since many ended before their respective manga. In contrast to Peter, who could sit down all day and watch anime, Danny was more of a reader. It was fun to tease Peter about Fairy Tail since he was farther ahead than he would be without reading the manga.

After weighing his options, Danny finally replied, "How about we watch Naruto?"

Although Peter had already finished the entire series once, for Danny's benefit, he had restarted it. If he remembered correctly, the last time they had watched Naruto had beaten Gaara. He knew farther ahead, though only bits of it. Seeing as previously Danny hadn't planned on watching or reading Naruto, Peter had vented to him on quite a few occasions. Because of this he was aware of the current war, as well as the secret of Tobi, something Peter apologized for often now that he was watching Naruto with him.

The day became a blur of Naruto episodes, mixing later into the night with the sounds of Final Fantasy IX and images of Soul Eater as he read through it. Peter had played all the Final Fantasy games at least five times each. It got to the point Danny could nearly recite them even though he had only played VII, X, and XIII until the end. As it grew closer to midnight, Danny bid his friend goodnight and headed downstairs to the couch. Although his ribs hurt from Billy, it only took moments before he was swallowed by the darkness of sleep.

****

Never before had Danny dreamt of being in complete darkness, the only disturbance a strange light radiating from his own body. It was somewhat disorientating as he wondered if there was anything around him. Danny wasn't usually claustrophobic, and even though the darkness was vast, it felt as if it was closing in on him. A cold hand wrapped around him, pulling him deeper until he nearly allowed himself to fade into it.

Before he could, though, a voice suddenly spoke, chasing away whatever it had been. _This way, boy._

The voice echoed in his mind. Despite this, he found himself staring a bit to the left. As if that voice had hooked him, he unconsciously began to walk in the direction he was facing.

He almost jerked to a stop when he felt the coldness reaching for him again. When he noticed the farther he went in the direction of the voice, the more it receded, Danny actually sped up. It was strange for a dream. Maybe he had been hit harder in the head than he had realized.

_Just a few more steps, Daniel._

Danny paused as he heard his full name. It was rare to hear it in real life – why would someone in a dream suddenly use it? For some reason it gave Danny an uneasy feeling. With the cold hands pulling at his back, though, he took a few tentative steps forward.

For a moment there was nothing under his front foot and he began to fall. Fear washed over him as he felt weightless. How was it possible, he wondered, to fall into darkness that had previously been seemingly solid? He didn't get to find out where he was falling to – either more darkness or a new area – because the cold hands suddenly began yanking against anything they could grab to pull him back up. Once he was over the edge, the hands threw him on the ground.

With a yelp of surprise, Danny began swinging at them. Now that he was facing them and they were within his light, he saw dull grey faces. They seemed to be made out of mist. If not for their own distinct characteristics like hair color or eyes, they would be one huge mass. Wherever they touched they left an icy chill, and now, face to face with them, he could see a deep hunger within each set of eyes focused on him.

His previous surprised cry changed into screams of terror as he tried to wiggle away, but now that they had a firm grip on him, they were more than reluctant to let him go. As one particular misty being came forward, Danny cringed. Its mouth was open, and a black energy was traveling from him into it. As more and more passed through its lips, wooziness settled over Danny. The black he was seeing wasn't as much from his surroundings as much as something closer to unconsciousness. That wasn't possible since he was already asleep. Right?

"You stupid spirits, back off!"

The voice that came from behind Danny was not the same as the one before, but it sent the mist – no, spirits – rushing to escape. Although he felt as if his equilibrium had been tampered with, Danny rose to his feet. "Thanks. I thought I was going to pass out there." What was he saying? This was a dream.

"No problem," the man said. A hand was placed on his shoulder to help right him. "After all, it is my fault you're here."

Squinting both in confusion and from a new wave of nausea, Danny faced his savior. It just helped reinforce his thought of this all being a dream because nobody really had blood red hair outside of cartoons and anime. His attire was also weird and made him look like a refugee, but overall he look like a normal twenty year old. Not counting the hair, of course. Maybe he was dreaming of a young man cosplaying?

"What do you mean I'm here because of you?" Danny asked. "You can't make me dream of anything."

The young man shrugged, a slightly mischievous smile on his face. "You're right," he admitted. "I can't make you dream anything, but I can make you do this." Out of nowhere he yanked Danny forward, using his foot to take away any balance he managed to have left after his experience with the spirits.

Danny braced for contact with the floor, but then he realized the man had made him trip into the area free of solid darkness. Panicked, he tried to grab at anything that could slow his rapid descent. Although he wasn't sure if there was anything he'd ever run into, it was better safe than sorry.

A sudden laughter shocked him. Glancing up, he saw the man following not too far above him. He looked as if he had stepped right in and not changed his position since. "You don't have to worry," he assured. "You're supposed to be stopped before you hit the floor. Though there was that one time when the girl's bones were completely smashed." Another laugh followed when Danny's search for a handhold became frantic. "Just kidding. Jeez, take a joke."

As he finished speaking, a light suddenly appeared below them. There was no use any longer to continue vainly trying to slow the fall. Instead he tried to drill it into his head that this was just a dream. Although he believed it to be true, the fear of breaking all his bones prevailed and took up most of his mind.

The white slowly grew larger until it completely blinded him. His eyes had grown used to the darkness, and now that it was stolen from him, he almost missed it. The light stung. Of course, hitting the ground would hurt as well. Right before he could, though, he was jerked to a nearly complete stop a foot from the ground. There was a mere inch or so of distance between him and the floor when his movement ceased; however, he barely had time to notice the stop before he hit the ground.

"Ouch." After the fall, some of the wooziness had left him. When he rose to his feet, it wasn't as difficult.

The young man landed beside of him, though his speed remained constant and he landed in a crouch. "See? You need to learn to trust me. I told you that you wouldn't be smashed."

"Who was the one who tripped me in the first place?" Danny reminded him, though he wasn't nearly as annoyed as he sounded. Maybe his continuous chanting of the entire situation being a dream had something to do with it.

"It is surprising to see he has recovered so quickly after having a darkness spirit feed off him."

Danny flinched, realizing that they were not alone. As he turned, he realized the room they were in was purely white and void of any exits. Then he saw the three other occupants. Of the three, two were male and one female. The one Danny assumed had spoken looked similar to the one who had saved him, but he had black military style hair and slightly older. He was also the one who had spoken to him while he was in the darkness.

Two pairs of blue eyes, belonging to the man and the woman, stared at him. Danny tried to hunker down as they scrutinized him. "He did well, I'll give him that. He even managed to make it here pretty quickly despite having the darkness spirits on his trail," the older male mused.

"The boy definitely has a strong soul," agreed the woman.

Danny began to tap his fingers on his leg unconsciously. It was a habit he preformed when annoyed or anxious. At the moment he was a little irritated at two dreams of his talking about him as if he wasn't there.

The woman suddenly smirked. She, like the man beside Danny, had red hair, and also older looking than him. "We are not dreams, Mr. Fulkner, nor are we of your creation."

He flinched in surprise. How had she known what he was thinking? Obviously, he reasoned, it was just a fluke. After all, mind reading wasn't possible. Then again, it was, despite what the women stated, a dream. It couldn't be anything else.

"Have you ever noticed most of these teens have the same thoughts?" the man beside him mused. "I'm Kado, by the way," he added when he saw Danny looking at him. "And since I doubt either of my lovely siblings will introduce themselves, they are Matsuro and Komichi."

Danny smiled uncomfortably at them in greeting. He might as well play along, even if he had more control in this dream than he should. "Uh, I'm Danny Fulkner. Nice to meet you?" It came out more of a question. He wasn't sure the two older siblings agreed it was nice.

"I am sure you're awfully confused." There was a dark twinkle within Komichi's eyes, as if she held a secret that was just waiting to pour out. "Most are since the earliest generations of the Nemuri neglected to pass down the knowledge of their promise."

Nemuri? Promise? It was his turn to examine Komichi, and then Matsuro. Both continued to give him hard stares. Only Kado seemed warm and remotely humanoid. Maybe rather than dreaming of cosplayers, he was dreaming of crazy people.

"We are not crazy."

Had she just-

"Read your mind?" Komichi finished. "Yes, Mr. Fulkner, I just did, and before you brush this off as a dream again, let me prove it to you." Moving with more speed than any human should possess, Komichi appeared at his side, grasping his forearm painfully hard. "Do you feel that?" she asked. The same dark sparkle from before grew stronger as Danny winced.

Another hand suddenly clamped down on her pale wrist. It appeared as tight as Komichi's grip on him. "Hey there, you hag, you're not allowed to hurt the new body."

The other person among the group proved to only be a few years older than Danny, and he also had strange white hair. His lips were pulled down in a frown and his ember eyes narrowed with annoyance. There was something behind his irritation, though, that seemed off to Danny. What it was, though, he was not sure. "I think you proved your point already. You harm my body anymore, and I'll kill you, bi-"

Before he could finish, a loud _thwack_ resonated through the room as Komichi smacked him in the forehead with her freehand. "Don't you touch me, spirit, when you should be grateful for what we're doing," she spat.

Kado sighed. He placed a hand on the boy's shoulder and pulled him away from his sister. "Damiken, I suggest if you want to keep your head, you don't anger Komichi," he advised. "She has the temper of an old lady." A small, devious grin followed as Komichi gave him a venomous glare.

"He's right, though, Komichi." Matsuro gestured to both Danny and Damiken. "We don't need either of them hurt. The boy's body in the real world is hurt enough as is. Although Kado will try to heal him in the real world while we prepare Damiken's soul to merge with Daniel's, it cannot be too spontaneous and extra bruises will not help when our younger brother is already so incompetent in medical ninjutsu."

The red haired man's lip stuck out a little in a mock pout, but he did not argue. Komichi must have also agreed with Matsuro's words because she sighed and released Danny's arm. As Matsuro had predicted, a dark spot was spreading across his forearm. It was strange since none of his other injuries were present in the dream.

_That's just it. It's a dream._ Danny reminded himself.

He felt eyes on him. Danny glanced over to see Damiken examining him with narrowed eyes. When the siblings had done the same thing, it felt more like being stared at by the spirits in the darkness. Kado's gaze had warmth like most normal humans. Damiken, though, was a strange mixture of the two.

What they had said suddenly caught up to him. "Wait, did you just say "merge with Daniel's", as in merge with my soul?"

Kado's lip twitched. "Looks like he has a brain along with a strong soul. Of course, neither is a match for me, but for once there is some sort of competition."

Another glare answered his obvious insult to the other occupants of the room. "I am sure you are quite confused, Mr. Fulkner," Komichi said. "To put it simply, right now your soul has been freed from your body and you are now in the dimensions between two worlds. Both worlds you know – your Earth and the Earth of the one you may know as Naruto."

_Note to self: no more Naruto marathons before I go to bed._ Danny argued, "That's not possible, mostly because there is no Naruto universe."

Damiken crossed his arms. "I beg to differ, kid. After all, I come from this world." The question and doubt in Danny's eyes made the other boy scoff. "Not believe me? I guess that's your problem, not mine."

Before Danny could retort, Komichi spoke up. "Right now you may be confused, but we cannot explain it to you right now. Because your soul is stronger than we expected, we'll have to make some preparations for both yours and Damiken's souls. Until then, you'll have to deal with Kado explaining things to you and healing your damaged body."

"As it is, morning is approaching and I have to return your soul to your body," Matsuro explained.

Danny shook his head in disbelief. "This is just a dream and all crazy." As he spoke, everything suddenly grew blurry.

"You may believe so now," Komichi said, "but you will soon face the fate your ancestors placed on you."

****

Danny awoke with a start. His body ached as the movement revived the pain from the injuries. A headache must have formed overnight because his cranium throbbed as well at his sudden movement. The sun shining in his eyes did nothing to help.

"What a crazy dream," he grumbled, trying to relax despite his body's cries. Danny could hear Peter moving through the house and he thought the clock said it was almost eight. Sleep still blurred his vision and he could not tell for sure. Even if he wanted to watch a few of the morning shows, he felt as if he hadn't slept more than a few hours. Peter usually recorded everything as well, so he wouldn't be missing too much.

With his decision, Danny covered his eyes with his arm. He groaned, though it wasn't only because of his ribs. Upon contact, his forearm throbbed. Although he didn't remember anything happening to it, Danny raised his arm to examine it. The blood drained from his face. Sure enough, a bruise was starting to form, and a red mark still surrounded it.


	2. Unexpected Visitor

**Okay, I like the beginning of this more then the end. As is I changed it from what it originally was. I'm still very iffy about it, though. That's why it's reposted. If you didn't read the last version it will be a cliffhanger. Hopefully I'll get the next chapter out. Why hopefully? Because I am having some trouble writing this. I love it, but I feel like I would rather read someone else writing it, but I doubt anyone would take it if I put it up for adoption. Though if anyone wants it, you're free to correct me.**

So, it's been nearly five months since this was updated... I AM SO SORRY! I would like to read all my reviewers who reviewed last chapter, as well as those who even read it. I hope you enjoy this okay-ish chapter. I feel like it could be better, and in this version it probably is. Still, hope you enjoy this. If so, either drop down a review (which I will admit, would be nice, simply so I know it was either enjoyable or my mistakes could be pointed out) or just read through it and enjoy it without saying anything. Either way just as long as I know people are enjoying it, I'll be happy. Again, sorry if it's blah. I just kinda want to get through this chapter because it's just explanation, and not too much fun stuff starts to happen until next chapter.

Okay, question time. This is something I do for my other stories, so...

_Where is it Danny and Peter are beaten by Billy?_

**7-26-13**

* * *

"You cheated!"

"Did not. I'm just ten times better than you," Peter rebuked. Even as he spoke, Peter tapped a very quick series of buttons. Danny's character fell to the ground again. "It's not my fault you give me too much time to do much ultimate moves with my higher level character. You should know by now to fear Aqua's magic."

Danny scowled as his character was reborn. "Ventus is so much cooler, though." Biting his lip and hoping Peter would do as he wished, the losing boy used Salvation. White pillars shot from his character. "Ha!" Danny exclaimed as Aqua appeared above Ventus only to be hit by the beams.

"Lucky guess," Peter grumbled. As the match came to an end, Peter the clear winner, both boys saved their games before turning their PSPs off. "So, that was the ninth win for me. How many did you have?"

His answer came in the form of a glare. With a sigh, Danny rose from the couch. The simple action sent spikes of pain throughout him. Even two days later his body was extremely sore from his beating. "I should probably get ready to go. My parents should be here soon to pick me up for church." Glancing sideways at Peter, Danny inquired, "You want to go with us?"

"Can't," the younger boy replied, falling back into the couch. "My parents are going to my grandparents' house, and I have to go." He certainly wasn't enthused. Since usually when they went to Peter's grandparents' it involved fixing something that required a lot of work, Danny couldn't blame him. It wasn't that they were lazy and didn't like work – it was just not something they exactly looked forward to. Danny had helped them out one time, and it had left him aching for a couple weeks. "Sorry. I wish I could," Peter added.

Danny simply shrugged. He had known that without Peter telling him. "Looks like I should get ready then." Having nothing more to say, Danny left with the destination of Peter's room in mind.

"Hey, honey," Mrs. Hamilton greeted as he passed the kitchen. She was washing the dishes that only ten minutes before had held their breakfast. "You'll be walking back to your house soon, right?"

Danny paused, stepping back so he was in the doorway. "Yeah, I probably will. Just going to take a shower first, if that's okay."

A rustling of paper made Danny realize Mr. Hamilton was in the room as well, sitting at the table with a newspaper spread out before him. Danny had to bite back his laughter at the stereotypical scene. "You really have to say something like that?" he laughed. "You're as welcome here as Peter."

Mr. Hamilton's words were similar to Peter's claiming he was a second son to them. He would never understand when he had grown so close to the Hamilton family, but it was nice. Especially since, even if he felt bad for it, it allowed him to escape the notice of his parents when Billy caused damage to the face. As it was, it had been easy to convince Mrs. and Mr. Hamilton that he and Peter had been wrestling.

"Thanks."

"Now get going," Mrs. Hamilton urged. "We don't want you to be late, even if I'm sure Richard could keep talking."

With a chuckle, Danny did as told, hearing Mr. Hamilton's silly protests to his wife behind him. The following ten minutes consisted of a steamy shower, water easing the tension that remained in his body, especially his bicep where he knew a knot was. He found the bathroom covered in a layer of mist as he got out. Although he nearly instantly clothed his lower half, he paused to put on a shirt. It was the same one he had worn to school Friday, only now washed.

Danny quickly wiped away the mirror on the wall. It gave him a full view of his body, although it was slightly blurry. A quick examination of his body made him wince. A large dark spot spread up most of his left side, and multiple smaller bruises dotted his tan skin. Most of his face was better, the black eye proving to have been less severe than Danny had feared. If his parents saw his chest, or even his arms – which his hoodie would thankfully cover- they'd freak out.

None of the bruises, however, stood out as much as the one on his forearm. There was nothing peculiar about it except where it was. Danny hadn't told Peter about his freaky dream, though he had questioned if he remembered anything happening to his arm. Peter hadn't remembered anything happening to it any more than Danny had. There was always the chance Billy had grabbed him and they forgot, or he could have hit it off a sink when he fell. Even if the theories seemed logical, the conclusions refused to settle in Danny's mind.

_Anything normal could have happened. Why not just accept it and let go of the dream?_ Yet he couldn't. Ever since he had had it, something felt different. The other day he had continuously found himself daydreaming of situations that could fit perfectly into anime, but he hadn't ever seen them in any.

There was the time he was fighting a man about twice his size, fire surrounding them both as he cried out in rage. Two people were on the ground near him. One was a boy with blood leaking profusely from his skull and the other was a woman staring in awe with teary eyes.

Another time he was flying through a forest, alternating between land and trees. A voice not his own but familiar came from his mouth, challenging whoever was behind him.

The clearest and strongest daydream, however, had been him lying in his own blood. He could feel it leaking from his chest, and had reached up to make sure there wasn't an actual hole numerous times. As it was his eyes curiously moved from his arm to his heart to make sure.

Danny sighed, grabbing his shirt and slipping it on. His hoodie followed soon after. Looks like it was time to face his parents and hope they wouldn't notice anything. And would buy him wrestling with Peter. With a wince, Danny headed out the bathroom. Lying to his parents wasn't something he was happy about, but he'd do whatever he needed to in order to protect his friend.

* * *

"Call us if you need anything, okay?"

Danny rolled his eyes. "Sure thing, Mom," he said. Soon after church his family had headed for the mall. Danny's cousin was to have a baby shower soon, and his parents still needed to buy her some gifts. His mom stood before her while his dad was a few feet away, examining a watch behind its glass case.

As he headed toward the games, Danny sighed in relief. His parents luckily hadn't noticed anything. They hadn't even truly noticed his fading black eye. After a couple years they'd grown used to his "wrestling accidents". Although he had been questioned before, his parents had stopped interrogating him about it him long ago.

The games were relatively empty except for a family in the back, their little boy eagerly looking through the games. Danny smiled. The boy grabbed one he liked, spinning to show his parents. A beaming smile met whatever their reply was.

Turning to the Xbox 360 games, Danny looked through the new games. Very few caught his eyes. He used to play Call of Duty, but shooting games had lost his interest. Because of Peter he had found a love for fighting games that used either fists or swords.

Although it was far from new, his gaze drifted toward a box displaying two characters he was familiar with, their younger forms about to clash. Danny picked up the _Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations_ box. It was one of the few ones Peter didn't have. He had let his cousin borrow it, but she had ended up breaking it. A few times he had considered buying a new one for him. Once again the same thoughts ran through his head.

"So, you a fan of Naruto?"

The voice sounded familiar, but Danny hesitated to look up. "Yeah, it's pretty cool," he replied. Deciding he'd wait a couple more months until Peter's birthday, he placed it back on the rack and turned to whoever had spoken. He was very glad he had put the game down or else he would have dropped it.

A grin spread across the man's face at Danny's reaction. "Guess that means you recognized me. I'm honored." His blue eyes twinkled with a mischievous light as he gestured toward the seats outside. "Care to take a seat so we can talk?"

Danny could simply stand there standing. To anybody else, the strangest thing about the young man would be his red hair. That, however, could be put off as being dyed. The only one who would be shocked to see him would be Danny himself.

And that was only because the last place he'd seen the man was a couple of nights ago in his dream.

Numbed and shocked, Danny did as Kado has suggested and walked toward the seats. They were unoccupied, but the boy glanced around, half expecting to see the other two siblings appear.

"This cannot be happening," he murmured to himself, dropping into one of the seats. Danny couldn't take his eyes off the amused man he had struggled to convince himself was a dream. Maybe he had fallen asleep again without realizing it.

Kado took the seat beside of Danny, crossing his legs and relaxing. As if he had every right to be there. Did a person from a dream have the right to exist? Of course not. The very concept of Kado being real was ridiculous. Either this was another dream, or Danny was officially going crazy.

Something flickered in Kado's eyes as he continued to look at the boy. "Pretty hard to believe, isn't it?"

With a nervous chuckle and shrug, Danny replied, "What do you think?" Even if he was still looking around, there was no sign of the other siblings. "Aren't your brother and sister here?"

It took him a moment to answer. For some reason he was somewhat distant. "No, it's just me," Kado said. "I'm the only one able to step into this world."

Danny rested his face against his hands. Dozens of questions sprang forth, begging to be let out. After running his hands through his hair, he leaned back, his mouth opening. It closed though. He went through the same process a few times before finally a question squeezed itself out that mostly summed all of them into one. "What is going on? Will you at least tell me that?"

"That's what I'm here for, Danny."

Kado had repositioned himself so he was leaning forward. As Danny glanced up, he was shocked to see nothing of the old Kado. Now he was completely serious and, if Danny was not wrong, sad. It was a strange change from his happy-go-lucky attitude he'd seen in his dream.

"Danny!"

Said boy jerked in surprise. "Darn," he grumbled as he looked up to see his parents approaching them. Well, at least if they saw Kado, Danny would know he wasn't crazy. "Hey guys."

"Who's your friend?" his father asked as they came to a stop in front of them. His gaze was quizzical, continually flickering to his red hair.

Before Danny had the chance to stay anything, Kado was on his feet. "Hello, sir. My name is Kasey. I'm Peter's cousin," he lied smoothly, a charming smile replacing his previously serious appearance. "I just came into town and I remembered Danny from the last time I was here."

Danny's father was obviously taken by surprise, but shook the hand that was offered to him. "Nice to meet you, Kasey. I'm Davis Fulkner."

"Kasey" turned to his mother next. "So you must be his beautiful mother." Either he studied too many movies or just thought it was charming, Kado kissed the top of his mother's hand once she had taken his own. "You two have raised a fabulous son that has done a great job taking care of my cousin."

Even if the sucking up was obvious, it worked on Danny's parents. Either that, or they saw no reason to question Kado seeing as their boy wasn't disagreeing with what he said. How could he, though? Tell his family that Kado was a man from his dream? If they could see him, did that make Kado real?

Satisfied that their child was safe, his parents left soon after with a reminder they'd call when they were ready to leave. Danny watched wistfully. Everything had seemed normal with his parents around. Now they were gone, and he was left with Kado. Just the man's presence chased away any sense of reality.

"Nice cover story, huh?" Kado asked, drawing Danny's attention once again. "Good thing you didn't say anything or I would have been in trouble. Hope your parents don't question Peter."

"How did you know about Peter? Did you already have that cover story thought up?"

Kado blinked, taken by surprise by the sudden questions. After a moment, though, he laughed. "What happened to your previous big question? Now you have these little ones? No matter how much better the world would be with more, there's only one of me, so I can only answer one question," he laughed.

If there was one thing Danny was starting to notice about Kado, it was that he had a great charisma. The longer he was around him, the less it came to mind he was talking to someone who shouldn't exist. It was more like talking to a new friend. Despite this, Danny was still surprised he hadn't pushed harder for his question. "Right," Danny mumbled. "Please tell me what's going on, Kado."

"Such a broad question," the man mused. "I guess I'll just answer you in a different form. While you fuse, I can mentally show you what happened. It's not something we always do, but since your and Damiken's souls were too different strengths before to fuse, it's a different case and he can't just tell you."

Danny blinked, a few different things sticking out to him. "Mentally show me? Fuse my souls with Damiken's? You're just confusing me more, Kado."

Kado grinned, reaching forward to touch Danny's head. His brown eyes went cross-eyed as he tried to look up at Kado's finger. A weird tingling started where they were connected. "What are you doing?" He blinked, surprised by how hard it was to open his eyes again. Darkness flickered in the edges of his vision. "Hey, what's going on?"

As the darkness closed in, the grin that had been on Kado's face suddenly vanished, sadness flickering in his blue eyes. "I am about to tell you what is going on. You are about to learn about the Nemuri's promise."

The darkness spread as Danny's body began to shut down. He fell back into the chair, Kado's hand lowering from his forehead to rest against above his heart. This time Danny couldn't even open him mouth to question him. Why wasn't anyone stopping to question them? Didn't they notice something weird was happening to him?

Danny managed to grimace as everything went black. Pain bloomed from Kado's hand and spread throughout the boy's body. Images flashed through his nearly unconscious mind. Scenes of small battles, unknown places, and random people played through like a movie. More than once he saw the faces of two teenagers, one girl and the other a boy, as well as an older male who appeared to be in his early thirties. One time he saw them all covered in blood. Then the pain began to worsen. Before he lost his hold of consciousness, he heard a whispering voice, one that belonged to Kado.

"Please forgive me, Danny."

* * *

So, what'cha think? Any better from the original if you read it?


End file.
